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Military deserter, his wife detained in Dnipro terror attack case

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Military deserter, his wife detained in Dnipro terror attack case
A 33-year-old man and his 25-year-old wife detained in connection to a Dnipro terrorist attack. Photo published on Jan. 9, 2025. (SBU)

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the police detained a married couple suspected of producing an explosive used in a Dnipro terrorist attack last December on Russia's behalf, the SBU said on Jan. 9.

One person was killed and four injured, including two police officers, in an explosion in the central-eastern city of Dnipro on Dec. 14, 2024, near a military enlistment office.

The newly detained suspects, a 33-year-old soldier who went AWOL (absent without leave) and his 25-year-old wife, were looking for "easy money" and were recruited via the Telegram messenger by Russian intelligence services, the SBU said.

They are believed to have acted separately from the suspected perpetrator of the attack, a 37-year-old resident who was detained within hours of the explosion and has also been accused of acting on Russia's behalf.

The married couple made the improvised explosive device based on Russian intelligence's instructions and stashed them in a hiding place. Subsequently, they watched the terrorist attack being carried out and went into hiding, the SBU said.

Law enforcement officers detained the suspects at their new addresses and seized mobile phones and clothes containing evidence of their acts. The two have been charged with terrorism and face life in prison.

Russia has been accused of plotting numerous terrorist attacks in Ukraine in an effort to sow panic and undermine the country's resistance amid the full-scale invasion.

Russian agents plotted terror attack near Kyiv by blowing up 16-year-old co-conspirator, SBU claims
The boy, disguised as a Ukrainian soldier, was allegedly instructed to plant explosives at an entrance to a military facility premises in December 2024. The plotters then intended to detonate the explosives remotely, killing the boy as well, the Prosecutor General’s Office said, adding that the boy…
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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